High School is a teen's best friend. Yeah right.

By Risty Maskell and Silver15

Disclaimer: If we owned anything to do with LOTR, we'd be in heaven. Unfortunately, we don't so we are still on crappy earth.

Summery: You mean you still don't know? Well I'm not wasting time telling you, you can just read the previous chapters thank you.

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After Jamie had left me, I drifted back to sleep again. At least when I was asleep, I didn't have to think about anything. I hated Jamie for telling people, although in my heart, I knew why she had to do it. I hated Gimli, I hated my parents…I hated everything.

When I woke up, Billee was sitting by my bed. He looked relieved when he saw that I was okay. I sat up and tried to smile.

"How you doing?" he asked, glancing at my bandaged wrist. "You really scared me"

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I think I scared myself. This has never happened before"

"Because you did it in a hurry" Billee explained. "You hit a vein. That's why it bled so much. You don't normally take chances like that, I know" His face darkened. "Jamie told me everything," he continued. "Legolas and I, we were going to kill Gimli. We really were. But she also spoke to Elrond and he got there first"

"What happened?"

"Gimli has to leave us alone and we have to leave him alone," Billee said with a shrug. "But everyone knows what happened to you. A lot of them were asking about you at dinner. No one is speaking to Gimli."

"How's Jamie?" Now that I'd had some sleep and cleared my head I could understand how frightening it must have been for my friends. I would be lying if I said that I didn't still feel a bit angry, but she was still my best friend, no matter what happened.

"She's very upset" Billee confessed. "Between me and you, Baz caught her crying earlier"

"But she hasn't cried for years" I said, completely shocked. "Oh Billee, when you go to bed, tell her I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to upset her"

"She knows that" Billee pulled me into a hug as I started crying. "And I know that. If there's anything I can do…"

"There is," I whispered. "They've taken my knife again, haven't they?"

"Yes" Billee could obviously see what I was getting at. "Emma, I can't"

"Please let me have your pen knife," I begged him. "I'll try not to cut myself again, but sometimes I just have to. I need it just in case"

"I…I don't know" I could see that Billee was torn. "I couldn't forgive myself if this happened again. And if Jamie found out…"

"She won't" I insisted. "I'll be very careful. I would never get you into trouble, Billee"

"I know that" he said quietly. "And I understand why you feel that you have to do it…but what you're asking" he paused and took his penknife from his pocket. "Jamie would say I'm being bloody irresponsible if she found out," he said quietly. "I'll let you have it, on three conditions"

"What?"

"One, you only cut yourself if you really have to" Billee gave a sigh. "Two, be careful where you cut. I don't want another incident like this. Three don't tell Jamie. In fact don't tell anyone. I may tell Legolas, but I swear him to secrecy. Don't say anything to anyone"

"Agreed" I said immediately. "Put it in my dorm, somewhere where Jamie won't find it. Thanks Billee"

"It's okay. I just…I hate keeping secrets, especially from Jamie"

"So do I. But she wouldn't understand," I said slowly. "And I don't want to upset her anymore. Her friendship means a lot to me"

"You won't ever find another friend like Jamie. She's okay for a hobbit" Billee joked. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and we fell silent.

"It's Elrond" our principal called. "Are you awake Emma? I want to talk to you"

Billee and I exchanged a glance.

"Are you asleep?" he whispered. I hesitated and shook my head.

"No, I have to speak to him sometime" I said softly. "You can come in, sir" I called. As he came in, I kept a tight grip on Billee's hand. Elrond smiled as he looked at me.

"I see you're looking a little better," he said. "You gave us quite a scare"

"I'm sorry sir," I muttered, keeping my head lowered. "I was just upset. It was a one off thing. I won't do it again"

"Jamie and I will keep an eye on her" Billee said immediately. "I'll make sure that this doesn't happen again"

"Alright" I knew that Elrond didn't want to leave it there, but he did. "Stay here overnight, okay? Just so that someone can keep an eye on you. You can go back to lessons tomorrow if you wish, but take it easy. And if you ever want to talk, you know where I am"

"Yes sir. Thank you sir"

"Not a problem" he said on his way out.

"I hate staying in here overnight," I confessed, when we were sure Elrond had gone. "It's creepy"

"Well then" Billee pulled his shirt over his head and handed it to me. "Sleep with that tonight. Just pretend that I'm here looking after you."

"Idiot" But I kept hold of his shirt. I like Billee's shirts, for some strange reason. They're big and comfortable to wear and they smell nice. "Thanks Billee"

"Not a problem" he said, mimicking Elrond. "Now, you sleep well and I'll be along first thing in the morning to see if you're coming to class. I'll bring you a change of clothes too"

"Don't forget to see Jamie. Tell her I'm sorry"

"Will do. And I won't let her see my penknife so don't worry about that" he leant forward and kissed me gently on the forehead. "I'll go see her now. Goodnight Em"

I sat there for hours after Billee was gone. Even when the lights were turned out, I sat there holding Billee's shirt, thinking. Gimli's words had triggered off a memory, something that I had blanked out over the years. But I couldn't quite remember it completely…

Finally, overcome with exhaustion, I buried my face in the shirt and slept. But my dreams were haunted off visions of my parents and Gimli.

A/N: I think I'm going down with the flu, so forgive me if this chapter doesn't make much sense. I'm so tired I can't think straight. Silver15